The Lake Atitlán basin experiences serious problems of water pollution, soil erosion and forest and biodiversity losses. Action was taken to establish the Authority for Sustainable Management of the Atitlán Basin. However, barriers such as lack of public participation, institutional coordination and investment funds have only ensured limited success. The key lesson learnt is that main barriers to an integrated management of water resources in the basin are strongly interlinked.
Low public awareness means that democratically elected decision-makers do not make it a priority. Water resources management is not a prime election issue; none of the candidates for mayors in recent elections campaigned on environmental issues.